CHAPTER 16

            I was thrown in the back seat of a car, and joined by someone on either side of me, I was trapped. I remained still and quiet the whole ride, not making a single sound. They didn't talk too much either, which was okay by me. Every minute or so one of them would have to hit me for some reason.

            The car finally stopped and everyone got out and shut the door, leaving me inside.  I struggled to try and escape, pulling my wrists as far out of the rope as I could, stopping when it began to feel like my wrist would break. I tried and tried to get out of the restraints, but couldn't do anything but cause more pain. I was almost wishing I'd stayed at home, surely a beating every night wasn't as bad as this.

            The door opened and someone then cut my hands free and dragged me out of the car, "Alright, listen up, this is how it's going to work."

            Another man came forward and yanked off my blindfold, "You sure as hell had better not tell anyone what has happened, or else there will be consequences to pay."

            I tried to look over at them but they stopped me. The man behind me grabbed my head, "Do not look at us!"

            "Alright," said another man from behind me, "We are going to get back into the car and drive off, and you had better not watch. If we see you looking at us, we'll have to kill you."

           I remained silent and just nodded my head. I listened as they got into the car and drove off, waiting a couple seconds before turning around. They were gone now, they had abandoned me on the side of the road. It looked like it was late in the day, the sun was already almost gone, but I didn't know how long I've been a hostage, or what day it was now.

           I ran my hands over my face to check the damage, making sure that there wasn't any really bad damage. How would I explain this to my house if I wasn't supposed to say anything? What will they think? I just hoped that I would be able to get away with this, and not have to worry about being killed. I knew where I was, so I just walked back, hoping things would work out.

            As I got to the house and opened the door, I looked around for anyone. I had forgotten what day it was, remembering that no one would be back until late, I was on my own. Just to make sure I was alone, I called out for anyone, but got no response. The house was so quiet, and just like I had remembered leaving it. I could tell that they had been drinking and doing some major drugs recently. No surprise.

            I pulled myself carefully down the stairs to our bathroom, making sure to shut and lock the door behind me. I stood in front of the mirror for several minutes just staring at my reflection. I had a deep gash down the left side of my forehead, just over my eyebrow. I had several other cuts and scrapes on my face, as well as some bruising on my neck.

            I grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in warm water, wringing the excess out of it. Ever so carefully I used it to clean up my face, wiping away the dried blood, which had ended up staining my face, causing areas to be pink. I knew I couldn't hide that, and just hoped that it was subtle enough that no one would mention anything. The cut above my eyebrow began to bleed again as I softly wiped it clean.

            I  finished up cleaning my face, and headed into my room, again locking the door behind me. I slowly dropped my clothes to the floor, exposing the damage underneath. My left knee was swollen and bruised, and my right ankle was swelling as well. I had several cuts and bruises all over my body. I knew I'd taken a beating, and I knew I'd been raped as well. I wanted to die.

            I unlocked the bedroom door, changed my clothes and laid down on the mattress, carefully moving myself into a comfortable position. It hurt too much to lay on my left side, and I had to continually correct myself to keep from laying on my left side. The pain that shot through my body when I rolled to my right side was enough to correct me, waking me from whatever sleep I was in.

            I turned on my left side and almost screamed as it pulled me awake. My eyes teared up as I fought the pain, forcing myself not to react. My mind was taken away from the pain as I heard footsteps and voices coming from upstairs, forcing me to lay still as I tried to focus on them.  It definitely sounded like Katie and Kira, without a doubt. It sounded as though half the gang was upstairs.

           I remained silent, as I pulled the sheet over my head, concentrating on the sounds. I obviously couldn't hear the voices, but I needed to know how close the sounds were getting. I had to make sure I would be ready when they came downstairs, ready with some excuse.

           I listened carefully as Katie and Kira talked as they came down the stairs and walked into the bathroom across the hallway. I could hear what they were saying now, and listened intently as they discussed the party they had apparently come home from. I could tell they were either drugged up or drunk, or both. They cold never resist either one, and it showed.

           I heard the door open, but they didn't turn on the lights. They both remained silent for several seconds, before Katie spoke up, "Taya?"

           I moaned as I turned onto my right side carefully, acting as though I'd been asleep, "I'm trying to sleep here."

           Katie laughed slightly, "Wow, coolie, we didn't know where you were, you didn't come home at all last night."

           The room stayed dark as they talked. Kira sat at the foot of my bed, bumping my ankles as she sat down. I jumped. My eyes teared up, but I refused to make a sound signaling that anything was wrong. She noticed anyway.

           "What's wrong?" Kira said as she laid her hands on my legs, "You hurt?"

           "I just twisted my ankle coming down the stairs, that's all," I replied as I shifted, and yawned to emphasize the need to be left alone.

             "Alright, alright," Kira said as she stood up, "We'll leave you alone. See you tomorrow, right?"

           "Yeah," I said as I made myself comfortable, "Sure."

           I listened as they walked out of the room and shut the door behind them. I was glad they were gone, so there wasn't a risk of them finding out. Now I was worried about what they would see tomorrow, how I was supposed to hide everything from them without an excuse? I slowly drifted off to sleep.